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The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) has stated that the fight against corruption is a complex undertaking not only for government and anti-corruption agencies but requires collective effort and resources.
The Commission said it therefore behoves every patriotic citizen -- young and old, male and female -- to expose corrupt officials to the appropriate institutions to minimise the harm that corruption was causing the nation.
The Fanteakwa North District Director for CHRAJ, Godfred Owusu, made the call during his presentation at a programme organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) at Begoro to increase awareness and sensitisation of the public, including the youth, on anti-corruption rule of law and accountability.
The programme was targeted at out-of-school youth aged 18 to 35, including but not limited to apprentices, informal sector workers such as petty traders, porters, artisans and manual labourers, kayayei (head porters), yellow-yellow riders, motor riders, youth in trade associations and social groups, unemployed and young adults not enrolled in school, among others.
The programme’s expected outcomes included increased knowledge among out-of-school youth on rule of law and accountability, greater awareness of legal protections and reporting channels, empowered youth capable of resisting and speaking out against wrongdoing and injustice and youth acting as peer educators and advocates in their social circles.
It was organised by the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and was sponsored by GIZ and the European Union.
The participants were taken through rule of law, public order and civic responsibilities, human rights and civic space, understanding corruption (bribery, fraud, nepotism, facilitation payments, conflict of interest), reporting wrongdoing, conflict of interest, anti-corruption laws and the role of youth in accountability.
‘’All hands must be on deck to fight this social menace for the country to experience economic growth and improvement in the standard of living,” Mr Owusu emphasised.
The CHRAJ District Director for Fanteakwa North also touched on the Whistle Blowers Act, which included forms of impropriety under the Whistle Blowers ACT, 2006 ACT 720, the Office of the Special Prosecutor ACT, 2017, ACT 595.
Mr Owusu advised that a whistleblower who honestly and reasonably believed that he or she had been subjected to victimisation or learnt of a likely subjection to victimisation due to a disclosure had been made might in the first instance make a complaint to CHRAJ to conduct an inquiry into it and make an interim order that it considered fit.
Other speakers at the programme included the Fanteakwa North District Police Commander, ASP Dennis Kudah, District Police Officer, ASP Dora Nortsu, and the Chairman of Civic Union, Gideon Ozor.
The District Police Officer, ASP Nortsu, who spoke on Public Order and Civic Responsibilities and Reporting Wrongdoing, advised the participants to educate their communities of what they learnt at the programme.
Ms Cynthia Essel, the NCCE District Director, was grateful to the sponsors, speakers and the participants for spending quality time at the programme as the knowledge acquired would go a long way to help people in their communities and the country at large.
A number of participants who spoke with the Daily Graphic were grateful to the speakers and organisers for the enlightenment and assured that they would be peer educators in their workplaces and communities.
